🇺🇦 Temporary protection in Portugal: applying, extensions and the 2026 rules
A guide for Ukrainian citizens who have come to Portugal and want to apply for, or already have, Proteção Temporária (temporary protection). It gives you proof that you are living here legally, the right to work and access to the main public services, but it is not an ordinary residence permit and not a plastic residence card.
Check whether you can get temporary protection
Proteção Temporária (temporary protection) is granted to Ukrainian citizens and some of their family members, and to certain groups of foreign nationals who were living legally in Ukraine. The final decision is made by AIMA — Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo (the agency for migration and integration).
If you already had temporary protection in another EU country, first end it there and get confirmation that it has ended. You cannot hold temporary protection in two EU countries at the same time. It is best to apply after you arrive in Portugal: the application asks for a local address, and it is the basis for your stay in Portugal specifically.
Apply through the AIMA portal
Open the Proteção Temporária (temporary protection) section on the AIMA website and follow the link to the online platform. Fill in your passport details, contacts and address in Portugal, and upload the documents requested. Older instructions may send you to the SEF for Ukraine website: SEF no longer handles these applications, and its functions have passed to AIMA.
Once you have submitted it, keep the Declaração Comprovativa de Registo Prévio na Plataforma de Pedido de Proteção Temporária (confirmation of preliminary registration). It has your case number, but it is not yet a decision to grant protection. For a child, a person without Ukrainian citizenship or where details do not match, AIMA may book an in-person appointment and ask for further evidence. Going round different offices without an appointment is usually pointless — keep an eye on your emails and on the status of your application on the portal.
“I have the number, I have the document confirming the application was submitted, ‘DECLARAÇÃO COMPROVATIVA DE REGISTO PRÉVIO NA PLATAFORMA DE PEDIDO DE PROTEÇÃO TEMPORÁRIA’, with the case number.”
Translated from Ukrainian; the original is at the linkukrporto07.08.2026
Wait for the checks and for your numbers
As part of the procedure you are usually given a NIF — Número de Identificação Fiscal (tax number), a NISS — Número de Identificação da Segurança Social (social security number) and a Número de Utente (SNS patient number). They may not all arrive at once: having a NIF or a patient number does not yet mean your protection has been approved.
Once the decision is positive, download the Certificado de Proteção Temporária (temporary protection certificate) — usually a PDF with a QR code. In 2026 the certificate, not an ordinary plastic residence card, is still the standard proof. If your application stays in processing for a long time, contact AIMA through the official form, giving your case number; a second application can create a duplicate and hold up the checks.
“When we came to Portugal in October 2022, we couldn’t find housing with the kids either, and when we went to them in person in Lisbon, they helped us straight away, that same day they put us in a hotel for Ukrainians in Mafra. That same day they gave us a room in the hotel, we were there for two months until we got protection with the numbers and while we looked for our own place. They helped us a lot.”
Translated from Ukrainian; the original is at the linkchatsetubal11.04.2024
Use the certificate for work and public services
The certificate confirms your right to live and work in Portugal without a separate work permit. With your NISS, your employer registers you with Segurança Social (social security), and your NIF is used for your employment contract, taxes, renting and other everyday procedures.
The Número de Utente (patient number) gives you access to the Serviço Nacional de Saúde — SNS (the national health service). You can enrol a child in a state school through the Portal das Matrículas (school enrolment portal) or directly through the Agrupamento de Escolas (school group) where you live.
To open a bank account you usually need your passport, NIF, protection certificate, proof of address and information about your work or the source of your money. Temporary protection confirms that you live here legally, but it does not oblige any particular bank to open an account without its standard customer checks.
Do not file a separate application for the yearly extension
In Portugal temporary protection is extended by a general government decision, not by replacing each certificate. Resolução do Conselho de Ministros n.º 53-A/2026 (Council of Ministers resolution no. 53-A/2026) extended the permits already issued until 4 March 2027; the decision applies from 5 March 2026.
If your PDF shows an old date, that on its own does not mean your status has ended. Keep the certificate with the QR code, the extension resolution and the confirmation of the deadline published by AIMA. It is especially useful to have them on your phone and on paper when you travel: carrier staff and border officers do not always know that the document has been extended directly by law.
“The border guard tried to tell the girl that she had 87 days visa-free and no residence card, so she couldn’t go to Poland.”
Translated from Ukrainian; the original is at the linkkit_pt03.07.2026
“Our protection is valid, yes. But that doesn’t mean some customs officer won’t want to ask you what’s going on, why the date has expired. If that does happen, you start confidently explaining that Portugal didn’t extend every single pdf of every Ukrainian, instead it issues a resolution every year stating how long TP for Ukrainians is extended for (every time it’s been a year). Well, and you show them that stack of resolutions (pick the version that has an English translation).”
Translated from Ukrainian; the original is at the linkukrporto28.06.2026
Remember that this is not an ordinary residence permit
Proteção Temporária (temporary protection) is a fixed-term collective scheme. It applies only until a set date and is proved by a special certificate. An Autorização de Residência (residence permit) is issued on an individual basis — for example, for work, study, running a business or family — and usually comes as a residence card.
Portuguese protection lets you live in Portugal, but it does not give you the right to move to and live permanently in another EU country. Nor does the certificate replace a passport or visa for travel: entry conditions and the 90/180 rule are checked separately.
Periods of temporary protection may be counted differently from years on an ordinary residence permit, for example when applying for long-term resident status. Do not assume they automatically give you the same residence record.
Get your new status first, and only then give up protection
If you qualify on a basis for an ordinary residence permit, check with AIMA or the relevant consulate whether you can apply from inside Portugal or need a national visa. Having temporary protection does not guarantee approval: you still have to meet the requirements of the chosen basis for income, work, housing and documents.
Do not end your protection until you have a written decision on your new status, unless the procedure expressly requires it. Once you have been issued an Autorização de Residência (residence permit), tell AIMA that your basis has changed and check whether your temporary protection has been ended in the register. You can give it up by writing to AIMA, but this is not always processed straight away.
As of 25 August 2026, there is no rule in official EU acts requiring new applicants to prove they have met their military obligations or left the country lawfully, and no date for such a condition to take effect. Nor has the EU yet decided to extend the scheme to 4 March 2028: the confirmed deadline in Portugal is 4 March 2027. Reports of a new condition from 2027 should not be treated as a rule in force without a published EU act and a Portuguese procedure.
“🗣 Giving up Temporary protection We’ve got an interesting case here — AIMA cancelled TP after a letter. Back in June 2022 we published instructions on giving up protection, and at first it worked, but then SEF/AIMA stopped responding to letters. For 2 years there was no news, and then today one of the chat members posted a screenshot of a letter — thank you, your protection has been cancelled. On 14.01.25 and 20.01.25 Bohdan and his wife wrote letters following our instructions to the addresses [email] and [email] And a miracle happened! After 1.5 months they got the magic reply letter — thank you for choosing Portugal, good luck, we’ve cancelled everything for you”
Translated from Ukrainian; the original is at the linkuainptinfo04.03.2025
“I applied for a nomad visa in Croatia with temporary protection in the second half of 2024 — and I applied and got it. The point is this — every consulate in every country decides whether or not they consider that country’s temporary protection to be residence. So the Portuguese consulate in Croatia confirmed to me that they accept temporary protection as residence — I checked with them before starting the process. In Poland at the very same time they didn’t accept Polish temporary protection as residence.”
Translated from Ukrainian; the original is at the linkkit_pt27.06.2026
What to bring
- A valid international passport or other identity document
- The child’s documents and proof of relationship
- Your address and contact details in Portugal
- Family members’ documents, if the application is based on a family relationship
- Confirmation that temporary protection in another EU country has ended, if you had it
- Declaração Comprovativa de Registo Prévio (confirmation of preliminary registration)
- Certificado de Proteção Temporária (temporary protection certificate)
- Confirmation of your NIF, NISS and Número de Utente
- A copy of Resolução do Conselho de Ministros n.º 53-A/2026 (the extension resolution)
Where people most often trip up
- Preliminary registration with a case number is not yet granted temporary protection
- Your NIF, NISS and patient number may arrive at different times
- A child or an applicant without Ukrainian citizenship often has to attend in person
- Previous temporary protection in another EU country must be formally ended
- Do not file a second application just because the wait is long
- An old date in the PDF does not cancel the extension set by the resolution
- The protection certificate is not a passport or an all-purpose travel document
- When switching to a residence permit, do not give up protection before you have checked what the procedure requires
- As of 25 August 2026, a requirement to prove military obligations has not been officially introduced
How it went for people
Free diploma recognition with temporary protection
A person was having their Ukrainian master’s diploma in computer science recognised in Portugal. Certifying the diploma and its 19-page supplement cost about €60; no translation or apostille was needed, as the documents included English text. The application went in on 1 July, confirmation of receipt came on 3 July, and the equivalence was ready on 16 July. Thanks to the temporary protection document the procedure was free; without it, it would have cost about €30.
Refused entry at the Polish border
In March a person and their daughter were let in through Poland on biometric passports and given 90 days, without their Portuguese temporary protection being taken into account. On their next trip, a week after that period ran out, they spent 13 hours at the border. The border guards did not accept the Portuguese temporary protection document and refused them entry.
Back to Portugal via Chișinău
On the way back through Poland the Portuguese temporary protection document was declared invalid, despite a printed copy of the Portuguese resolution, and a written refusal of entry was issued. After that, a direct Chișinău — Lisbon flight was chosen for the return. On this route there were no questions about the documents.
🇺🇦 Protection certificate arrived after an email
A temporary protection application was stuck in Processed status, and it could no longer be cancelled. The person emailed two AIMA offices and the agency’s general address, and also filled in the form on the website, attaching their NISS and other numbers. The temporary protection certificate arrived the same day.
🇺🇦 Giving up protection confirmed by letter
A married couple decided to give up temporary protection and sent letters to SEF and AIMA on 14.01.25 and 20.01.25. There was no official procedure for giving it up, so they used an ordinary email request. After 1.5 months a reply came saying their temporary protection had been cancelled.
🇺🇦 German case closed without a trial
After a case linked to Portuguese temporary protection was opened in Germany, the person hired a German lawyer. The police answered the request a month later and in April passed the file to the Frankfurt prosecutor. At the end of June the lawyer received a decision to close the case for lack of an offence under Section 170(2) of the German Code of Criminal Procedure, so it never reached court and no further costs arose.
Retold in our own words from messages in open chats. The link leads to the full original message.